Comments (4)

Tory and UKIP groups were both in opposition to a 2012 motion on the implementation of EU water legislation designed to tackle the “rise in the frequency and intensity of floods” with “adaptation and mitigation policies”. The vote emphasised “the importance of risk prevention, mitigation and response strategies to prevent water-related extreme phenomena”.

As if the relevance to flood-hit parts of the UK wasn’t clear enough it continues:

“some countries do not suffer from shortages of water but are having difficulty in managing the excess of water resulting from regular or heavy rainfall, flooding, river erosion and pollution affecting river basins and coastal areas, as well as the effects of these phenomena on the local population”

“Calls on the Commission to conduct a relevant analysis of the ways to prevent the effects of flooding, given the noticeable increase in the flood risk in Member States in recent years”

Tory and UKIP groups were both in opposition to a 2012 motion on the implementation of EU water legislation designed to tackle the “rise in the frequency and intensity of floods” with “adaptation and mitigation policies”. The vote emphasised “the importance of risk prevention, mitigation and response strategies to prevent water-related extreme phenomena”.
As if the relevance to flood-hit parts of the UK wasn’t clear enough it continues:
“some countries do not suffer from shortages of water but are having difficulty in managing the excess of water resulting from regular or heavy rainfall, flooding, river erosion and pollution affecting river basins and coastal areas, as well as the effects of these phenomena on the local population”
“Calls on the Commission to conduct a relevant analysis of the ways to prevent the effects of flooding, given the noticeable increase in the flood risk in Member States in recent years”Dumonii

We don't need the EU commission to sort us out, they seem to cause more problems than they fix " making space for water policy " being just one. We just need a government that will put the UK first , most of the MPs we have at the moment should be tried for treason.

We don't need the EU commission to sort us out, they seem to cause more problems than they fix " making space for water policy " being just one. We just need a government that will put the UK first , most of the MPs we have at the moment should be tried for treason.Libertybelle

Well, obviously the Comment from the last post about MP tried for treason !!!
I would advocate that Lord Chris Smith should be Hung Drawn and Quartered, and his Head placed on a Spike, at the Tower of London. Because he as Quango Chairman of the Environment Agency, he and his Team have a lot to Answer for !!!!!, if he values his head to remain on his shoulders then, if he resigns IMMEDIATLY, and wholeheartedly Apologises to the Country for his and his Agencies Failings, then I would spare his Decapitation.....
At a Salary, on top of the Lords Expenses and Attendance Allowances, along with the other lucrative Chairs and Boards he no doubt is appointed to.....
The Environment Agency, are Not Fit For Purpose, the Accounts show that a massive £17.3 Million has been spent on Travel and E Agency Expenses, we only needed £5 Million to dredge the River Parrett, but they were determined not to do that, instead, creating Bird Sanctuaries, and Wet lands, to the detriment of our Somerset Residents. Disgraceful, Appauling, and Criminal, they must be held to Account, after the Misery, has been addressed.
Responsibility for our Moors , Rivers must go back to the Local Drainage Boards, who have real expertise ,local Knowledge, and a passion to protect our Farm Land and Communities such as BurrowBridge, Moorland, Athelney, Westonzoyland, and Langport.
I am possession of a Drainage Board Communication, from February 2013, which states that after the 2012 Local Flooding, it is paramount to dredge the River Parrett and the River Tone. 12 Months ago, after last years Floods, the Environment Agency KNEW that they had got it WRONG !!! Dredging is the first Answer, then to manage the Rain fall, and Disperse that Water into the River Networks, yo enter the River Parretts Estuary, and outward to the Bristol Channel, twice Daily at Burnham On Sea.
This report states that the River Capacity, a year ago, was 65% of the 1960 Capacity, and that if they had Dredged, the Capacity, would be 90- 95 % of the 1960 Levels.
So for the Last 20 years the Environment Agency, have been determined not to listen to Local Knowlege, the Farmers, the Residents, and the Drainage Board Members, who understand our Local Rivers and Moors.
I have called for a resolution to SDC Meeting now postponed to Monday a week, from next Wednesday, for SDC to call for the Environment Agency to be disbanded, and the Local Drainage Boards to take back the responsibility, with the funding to look after locally our Rivers and Flood Plains and Moors, in Somerset.
Let's hope the Dutch Pumps, reduce the Flood waters from the Moors, as I have today been out to Westonzoyland, and in 35 years, have never whitnessed the fields entering The Village, on the right by the Cemetary, underwater. !!!!!
How much higher will it rise, !!! My home is on the 3 -3A flooding Zone
E Agency, mapping area's.
We can only hope that the River Levels are maintained, and that they are not Breached, or 1000 + properties, on Bower, Westonzoyland Rd. And the Somerville Way Properties could be next.......
Today, I obtained the Tide Time Table from the Environment HQ, they were not too willing to make it available, a staff member, leaving gave me Her Personal Copy, Cllr Nobby Turner, SDC, asked for the Timetable, earlier today, and was told NOT AVAILABLE, as they didn't want to Alarm Residents
In making the Tide Times known......." Typical ' response from the E Agency @ Rivers House ,East Quay.........
David L Preece
Blue - Owl.
I Will Publish Our Tide Times Later .

Well, obviously the Comment from the last post about MP tried for treason !!!
I would advocate that Lord Chris Smith should be Hung Drawn and Quartered, and his Head placed on a Spike, at the Tower of London. Because he as Quango Chairman of the Environment Agency, he and his Team have a lot to Answer for !!!!!, if he values his head to remain on his shoulders then, if he resigns IMMEDIATLY, and wholeheartedly Apologises to the Country for his and his Agencies Failings, then I would spare his Decapitation.....
At a Salary, on top of the Lords Expenses and Attendance Allowances, along with the other lucrative Chairs and Boards he no doubt is appointed to.....
The Environment Agency, are Not Fit For Purpose, the Accounts show that a massive £17.3 Million has been spent on Travel and E Agency Expenses, we only needed £5 Million to dredge the River Parrett, but they were determined not to do that, instead, creating Bird Sanctuaries, and Wet lands, to the detriment of our Somerset Residents. Disgraceful, Appauling, and Criminal, they must be held to Account, after the Misery, has been addressed.
Responsibility for our Moors , Rivers must go back to the Local Drainage Boards, who have real expertise ,local Knowledge, and a passion to protect our Farm Land and Communities such as BurrowBridge, Moorland, Athelney, Westonzoyland, and Langport.
I am possession of a Drainage Board Communication, from February 2013, which states that after the 2012 Local Flooding, it is paramount to dredge the River Parrett and the River Tone. 12 Months ago, after last years Floods, the Environment Agency KNEW that they had got it WRONG !!! Dredging is the first Answer, then to manage the Rain fall, and Disperse that Water into the River Networks, yo enter the River Parretts Estuary, and outward to the Bristol Channel, twice Daily at Burnham On Sea.
This report states that the River Capacity, a year ago, was 65% of the 1960 Capacity, and that if they had Dredged, the Capacity, would be 90- 95 % of the 1960 Levels.
So for the Last 20 years the Environment Agency, have been determined not to listen to Local Knowlege, the Farmers, the Residents, and the Drainage Board Members, who understand our Local Rivers and Moors.
I have called for a resolution to SDC Meeting now postponed to Monday a week, from next Wednesday, for SDC to call for the Environment Agency to be disbanded, and the Local Drainage Boards to take back the responsibility, with the funding to look after locally our Rivers and Flood Plains and Moors, in Somerset.
Let's hope the Dutch Pumps, reduce the Flood waters from the Moors, as I have today been out to Westonzoyland, and in 35 years, have never whitnessed the fields entering The Village, on the right by the Cemetary, underwater. !!!!!
How much higher will it rise, !!! My home is on the 3 -3A flooding Zone
E Agency, mapping area's.
We can only hope that the River Levels are maintained, and that they are not Breached, or 1000 + properties, on Bower, Westonzoyland Rd. And the Somerville Way Properties could be next.......
Today, I obtained the Tide Time Table from the Environment HQ, they were not too willing to make it available, a staff member, leaving gave me Her Personal Copy, Cllr Nobby Turner, SDC, asked for the Timetable, earlier today, and was told NOT AVAILABLE, as they didn't want to Alarm Residents
In making the Tide Times known......." Typical ' response from the E Agency @ Rivers House ,East Quay.........
David L Preece
Blue - Owl.
I Will Publish Our Tide Times Later .Blue Owl

In reality, the entire government is to blame for a lack of preparation and its outrageously inadequate response.

After all, climate change scientists have been warning for years about the expected increased frequency of extreme weather events - including unprecedented rainfall - caused by human induced global warming.

Moreover, instead of investing in measures that have enormous potential to defend people, land and property against flooding, the government has pursued a vicious austerity agenda of public spending cuts.

These cuts have been borne heavily by the Environment Agency, including its budget for flood prevention.

Incredibly, on top of previous cuts, some 1,500 agency jobs (15% of the workforce), including 550 jobs in flood prevention, are due to be axed by October.

Yet the cost to people's homes and the country's ruined infrastructure will run into hundreds of millions of pounds.

The floods have exposed how this government puts the interests of a rich elite above those of a long-suffering public.

It's high time that these 'Eton millionaires' are booted out and an environmentally sustainable plan of flood defences and infrastructure is put in place.

"In July 2012 Guardian journalist Damian Carrington identified 294 shovel-ready flood defence schemes that had not proceeded because of cuts.

"Maintenance of existing defences was suffering too. The government was forced to throw another £130 million of emergency funding into the hole - yet that still left spending lower than in 2010.

Watching the interviews of the people affected by the floods, you can see and hear the mounting anger.

There has been a change in outlook among thousands of people with growing anger towards the Con-Dems over this issue.

We have private water companies raking it in, while running a Victorian plumbing system nationwide which causes enormous problems and clearly needs replacing.

The floods show how applying the Tory outlook of 'doing more with less' to the Environment Agency by cutting their finance has affected many thousands of people."

"The chain breaks at the weakest link. So it was in Dawlish, that a combination of high tides and winds broke the railway line that connects the south and west of Devon and Cornwall to the rest of the country.

Cutting off nearly a million people west of the river Exe, it has left Cornwall and major centres such as Plymouth and Torbay without rail connections.

The West has been battered by storms - the worst for many decades, with record levels of rainfall resulting in damage everywhere and the flooding of 60 square miles of the Somerset levels.

When this Coalition government was cobbled together in 2010, Cameron said he wanted it to be "the greenest government ever".

Since then they have done the reverse, seeking to undermine the science of climate change and cutting Environmental Agency funds by nearly 40%.

Like King Canute, the Con-Dems refuse to acknowledge that to turn the tide against global warming, there must be planning on a regional, national and international level - an impossible scenario given the 'values' that sustain their capitalist system."

For more information, or to join the Socialist Party, visit: www.socialistparty.o
rg.uk

Floods misery: Government cuts to blame
While thousands of homes and shops are waist deep in toxic water, and flooding hits new areas, government ministers indulge in a blame game.
Stand-in environment minister Eric Pickles blamed the Environment Agency for not dredging rivers, while the department's incapacitated minister Owen Paterson was reportedly raging to Prime Minister David Cameron over Pickles' attacks.
In reality, the entire government is to blame for a lack of preparation and its outrageously inadequate response.
After all, climate change scientists have been warning for years about the expected increased frequency of extreme weather events - including unprecedented rainfall - caused by human induced global warming.
Moreover, instead of investing in measures that have enormous potential to defend people, land and property against flooding, the government has pursued a vicious austerity agenda of public spending cuts.
These cuts have been borne heavily by the Environment Agency, including its budget for flood prevention.
Incredibly, on top of previous cuts, some 1,500 agency jobs (15% of the workforce), including 550 jobs in flood prevention, are due to be axed by October.
Yet the cost to people's homes and the country's ruined infrastructure will run into hundreds of millions of pounds.
The floods have exposed how this government puts the interests of a rich elite above those of a long-suffering public.
It's high time that these 'Eton millionaires' are booted out and an environmentally sustainable plan of flood defences and infrastructure is put in place.
"In July 2012 Guardian journalist Damian Carrington identified 294 shovel-ready flood defence schemes that had not proceeded because of cuts.
"Maintenance of existing defences was suffering too. The government was forced to throw another £130 million of emergency funding into the hole - yet that still left spending lower than in 2010.
Watching the interviews of the people affected by the floods, you can see and hear the mounting anger.
There has been a change in outlook among thousands of people with growing anger towards the Con-Dems over this issue.
We have private water companies raking it in, while running a Victorian plumbing system nationwide which causes enormous problems and clearly needs replacing.
The floods show how applying the Tory outlook of 'doing more with less' to the Environment Agency by cutting their finance has affected many thousands of people."
"The chain breaks at the weakest link. So it was in Dawlish, that a combination of high tides and winds broke the railway line that connects the south and west of Devon and Cornwall to the rest of the country.
Cutting off nearly a million people west of the river Exe, it has left Cornwall and major centres such as Plymouth and Torbay without rail connections.
The West has been battered by storms - the worst for many decades, with record levels of rainfall resulting in damage everywhere and the flooding of 60 square miles of the Somerset levels.
When this Coalition government was cobbled together in 2010, Cameron said he wanted it to be "the greenest government ever".
Since then they have done the reverse, seeking to undermine the science of climate change and cutting Environmental Agency funds by nearly 40%.
Like King Canute, the Con-Dems refuse to acknowledge that to turn the tide against global warming, there must be planning on a regional, national and international level - an impossible scenario given the 'values' that sustain their capitalist system."
For more information, or to join the Socialist Party, visit: www.socialistparty.o
rg.ukSomerset;SocialistParty